~11) As a role-playing game
Alpha Protocol is often awkward and sometimes ridiculous. But it's internally consistent because it is first and foremost an RPG. Sure, it's silly when spies can hide in plain sight like cloaked predators. But stealth is an important "leg" of the game, along with gadgets, hacking, and gunplay. The idea is that you choose among them for the kind of spy you want to be. From there, everything is based on advancing how and how well you do these things. This evolves based on your skills and gear, which are the hallmarks of any good RPG. Contrast this to how Mass Effect 2 distills everything down to crossing space dungeons by playing a streamlined shooter with skills aplenty and gear that doesn't matter so much.
DEEEEERRRRRPPPP I CAN HID IN TEH OPENZ CUZ DIZ AN ARR PEE GEE BUT ME2 WITH ITS CLOAKIN DEVICE FAILZ CUZ ITS LINEAR CORRIDER SHOOTER HHHHHUUURRRRPPP!!! WAIT WAH??!
10) Guns with personality
Gunplay is pretty much a prerequisite for everyone in Alpha Protocol, but each type of gun is like its own type of combat. Or like a character class. For instance, I got all the way through the game with only a pistol because the pistol isn't merely the weakest gun. Instead, the pistol is a specific type of combat. My choice of pistol model, the components I attached to it, and occasionally my special ammo all made a big difference in how the game played. At first, any gun is relatively weak. The pistol can be as much of a struggle as the shotgun, assault rifle, or SMG. But by the time Alpha Protocol was over, I could step into a room with my pistol and instantaneously kill six bad guys without leaving cover.] But Mass Effect 2 never broke out of its rudimentary paper/rock/scissors interplay among attacks and defenses.
Switching guns to deal with different situations is dumbing down. See that guy 2 km away? I will snipe him with my pistol because I have pistol skills level 20. In dumbed down consoletard games like ME2 you have to minigame the gun selection system and pick the sniper rifle.
9) As a standalone game
Mass Effect 2 is full of fan service. It's one of those sequels that absolutely demands familiarity with the first game. This isn't necessarily a criticism if you're a fan of Mass Effect 1. But for everyone else, Alpha Protocol does a better job not expecting you to already care about who's who. Its characters need no introduction because this game is their introduction.
The number
2 sort of implies continuity, something Obsishit knows nothing about given their past releases of Bioware sequels. But hey Obsturd fanboys will surely ignore this if AP2 ever comes out.
8) As a story
Mass Effect 2's storyline is 90% "Hey, we're getting the band back together!" backstory, with 10% actual saving the galaxy at the end. It makes for a disjointed story, with the main dramatic conflict simmering on the back burner while you help your sidekicks work out their family issues. But Alpha Protocol is full of twists and turns. It's constantly forking off into different directions that dramatically change the relationships among the main players. In Alpha Protocol, I feel like I'm in the driver's seat, determining how the story unfolds. In Mass Effect 2, I feel like everyone else's errand boy, biding my time until the story actually starts.
Only it is not. In ME2 you assemble a new team with only two recruitable characters from the first game.
And regarding the "I haz control on teh gaem" for AP, I bet that is true given you can't even know the outcome of your answers in the
dialog minigame.
7) As a story narrated by a smoking man
Both Alpha Protocol and Mass Effect 2 use conversations with a mysterious smoker as a framework for telling their stories. By the time Alpha Protocol is over, you will know all you need to know about its smoking man. But I still have no idea what was up with that elusive man in Mass Effect 2, except that he sounds like President Bartlett.
The Illusive Man's intentions are as clear as clean water: Humanity comes first no matter what, and the ends always justify the means. At least he is an original character and doesn't look like a flat out copy of Eli Vance.
6) As a set of clear goals
In Alpha Protocol, it's always clear exactly what you're doing, why you're doing it, and then the effects of having done it (by "always", I mean "always except for at the end"). It never wants for information about motives, personalities, organizations, and agendas. After every mission, you get a modular debriefing that gives you the effects of your choices and where you'll be going from there, broken down meticulously. There's none of the under-the-hood plotting that occasionally made Mass Effect 2 so bewildering.
Felix said:
So the Codex agrees that having everything shown to the player, Oblivion-style makes it a better game than not having every piece of storyline immediately revealed? HAHAHA!
Not that I'm saying ME2 is different on this regard, it's as straightforward as it can be but this just goes along proving what a retarded comparison that guy makes, almost skyway style.
5) Showing the world (or not)
Mass Effect 2 moves you through sparsely populated boxes asking you to believe they're vast cities or sprawling space stations. It is absolutely not up to the task of what it intends to show you. But Alpha Protocol is under no such delusion. Its hubs are simply safe houses, and its levels are simply its missions. And although many of the missions are chintzy, there is no failed attempts at world building, because there is no attempt at world building. Alpha Protocol knows its limitations.
AP is open world now and allows free exploration, unlike the linear corridor shooter ME2. And if AP knew its limitations it would not have shipped on its current despicable state.
4) Conversations
Your choice of things to say in Alpha Protocol is almost always clear. It's a simple abstract system. You choose among suave, aggressive, and professional comments (the developers break it down as Bond, Bauer, or Borne). Sometimes you get a bonus choice if you've met certain prerequisites. You could almost say it's like a game! But you never feel like you're guessing, which is often the case in Mass Effect 2 where every reply has two layers: what's written and what you actually say. Conversations in Alpha Protocol are clearly intended to be part of the gameplay instead of cat-and-mouse with the writers.
:epic:
3) Minigames
The minigames in Mass Effect 2 are tedious busywork that feels entirely out of place. But the minigames in Alpha Protocol are varied and fit neatly into the concept of spying. They include pattern recognition, trigger button finessing, and a reverse maze game to represent hacking, lock picking, and rewiring. [color]They're almost always optional.[/color] What's more, you can change their difficulty based on your character's skills and the gear you equip. And even if you don't like one particular minigame - the hacking was particularly tough for me - there's nothing in Alpha Protocol quite so odious and ubiquitous as Mass Effect 2's horrid planet scanning.
The
dialog system is a fucking minigame. I would like to see a grenade that allows me to go around that.
2) Gear
The weapons, armor, and gadgets are fantastic in Alpha Protocol, and they all tie neatly into the economy. The game constantly forces tough choices for how you spend your money. Do you buy gear, information, or special bonuses for upcoming missions? There will never be a time you don't want more money to buy stuff. Important stuff. Stuff you really really need. Stuff that gives you an incentive to search for money, blackmail other characters, and get better at the minigames even if you don't like them. In Mass Effect 2, I wasn't even sure why I was buying what I was buying when I was buying it.
Try beating ME2 on insanity without acquiring upgrades and see how far you can go. And not knowing what was being bought? Seriously? It seems reading purchase descriptions is too difficult for the average gamer these days.
1) Steven Heck
Mass Effect 2 doesn't have Steven "Don't call me Steve" Heck.
Nope, it doesn't. It has however about a dozen better characters with better dialog lines and convincing roles than a "done 1200 times before in every movie" elusive kind of guy that happens to know everything the is to know about Taipei with contacts throughout the whole fucking place yet needs your help to get the job done for some reason.
